People who endured abuse by Catholic clergy have voiced renewed hope after their first encounter with Pope Leo at the Holy See.
Gemma Hickey, heading the anti-abuse organization, stated that the pontiff's decision to engage with them so early in his papacy spoke volumes about his commitment to tackling the issue.
Worldwide Zero-Tolerance Policy Pushed
The organization is pushing for a worldwide zero-tolerance policy that would defrock any priest who confesses to or is found guilty of abusing a child. This policy has already been adopted in the United States.
The Pope recognized that there is "opposition in certain regions of the globe" to this initiative, according to Hickey.
"We were all being realistic when we acknowledged that there is resistance," they stated.
Legacy Challenge
The current pontiff, who assumed the position in spring, has inherited this longstanding problem that has haunted the Church for decades.
Previous efforts to resolve the problem included an historic summit on paedophilia within the Church and changes to canon law to explicitly criminalize abuse.
Deeply Felt Link
For Hickey, who prefers they/them pronouns, the drive for global implementation of the measure is personal. The North American activist revealed they were abused by a clergy member who was subsequently moved between different parishes.
"We trust this will establish the direction for his papacy, because we aim to collaborate with him," they stated. "We have the common objective, we want to end abuse by religious officials."
Historic Meeting
Seven representatives of the coalition, which represents survivors and advocates from over thirty countries, met with the Pontiff in his official residence.
The meeting, originally scheduled for 20 minutes, extended to a sixty minutes, during which the Pope "primarily heard to us," according to the representative.
The Pope was described as "quite empathetic" when listening to the story of a female survivor victimized at a church-run institution for Indigenous children in North America.
Hickey added the Pope was "compassionate" about their personal experience and appeared "very humble, humorous, and very down to earth."
"Victims have long wanted a seat at the table and I didn't feel like he was making empty promises," Hickey stated. "I believed like he was genuine, realistic, and very open and eager to collaborate with us."
Canon Law Changes
The group is hoping that revisions to canon law will enable the adoption of the zero-tolerance policy worldwide.
They have spoken with experts and gathered materials that they will present to the pontiff.
"He seemed interested in looking at it," they remarked.
Accountability Emphasized
A recently released Vatican-commissioned document emphasized the "necessity of a efficient process for the stepping down and/or dismissal of religious officials or staff in cases of misconduct or negligence."
The report also pointed out that victims repeatedly stressed the "critical requirement for bishops and senior officials to be made responsible for inaction and concealment."
Path Ahead
The representative revealed they informed the pontiff at the start of their meeting: "This is as much a risk for him to participate in a dialogue as it was for us."
Following the encounter, Hickey voiced hope for progress.
"We realise it's not something that's going to be resolved quickly, but at the end of the day, uniting and building a relationship and continuing to strengthen that bond is a move in the right direction," Hickey stated.
Hickey concluded that they shared with the pontiff: "Just because it's a difficult period, I feel like we can alter how the story ends - he valued that."
